Beach Opens District Playoffs
Its district, District 2, is the most powerful in the state 3A classification
On one hand, Rainier Beach now faces the most powerful district in the state, District 2. On the other, since it is dominated by Metro League schools, it is familiar territory for the Vikings, who are 16-0 against league opponents.
In a first-round matchup at Bellevue College, Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 8 p.m., Rainier Beach (22-1) will take on Garfield (9-13), which it’s beaten twice by an average of 53 points.
District 2 includes six of Max Preps’ 13 top-ranked schools in the state, five of The News Tribune top 10, and four of VarsityWA’s top 10.
Beach may be expected to waltz through the district tournament and even state, but Seattle Prep coach Dan Kriley doesn’t believe they are as good as last year’s team, whose state 3A title they’re trying to defend.
“That team was more cohesive,” Kriley said. “But they’ve got really good players and they’re deep, so you can’t have a bad start. Once they get you down a little bit, and then you start to press, they can turn a turnover or missed shot into 12-point swings very quickly.”
Of course, the biggest challenge for any team would be containing Tyran Stokes, the Metro MVP and McDonald’s All-American. Stokes is averaging 33.3 points and has been held under 30 points only six times in 23 games.
Kriley tried defending Stokes with his guards because he believes Stokes “doesn’t like guys getting up underneath him.” O’Dea tried a similar tactic in the Metro championship game, but Stokes destroyed the Irish with 31 points, 11 in the decisive fourth quarter, to go along with 15 rebounds, 6 steals, and 5 assists. He said he wasn’t satisfied with beating O’Dea three times by an average of 7.0 points; he wants to beat them two more times, meaning this week in district, then down the road in state.
Rainier Beach will have help in the semifinals on Thursday. Freshman JJ Crawford, a first-team, all-league selection, is expected to return for that game. He has been sidelined since suffering a right high-ankle sprain at Garfield on Jan. 23. In Crawford’s absence, junior Micah Ili-Meneese has emerged offensively, averaging 17.3 points in his last four games.